LATAM Business Class

A few months ago, I have managed to snap up one of probably the best Business Class fare from Madrid to Frankfurt. If you want to know how to do it, make sure to read to the end.

CHECK IN:

Our flight LAN704 is scheduled to depart Madrid at 1500 local time. I have arrived at the airport 3.5 hours before departure, and the check in area was deserted. So I went to the corner of the check in area to kill off some time, luckily there’s some good tarmac view. 

Exactly at 1200 (3 hours before departure), I walked to the check in counter, there was already a queue and there was no signage about where to queue. 5 minutes later, a staff member directed the crowd to get into the snaking queue while another queue formed on the other line, which is a lot shorter so I was assuming it is for premium and priority. 

For the first 15 minutes, there was only 2 check in desks open, other ground staff started to arrive to set up the boarding area and open up more check in desks. I have finally checked in and headed to the security at 1220. 

As I am flying Premium Business, I have access to the Iberia lounge, and I was assuming since I am a premium member that I have fast track security, which was shown on the signage for one world priority member, but I got directed to the regular security line. Since the regular security was short, it didn’t take me long to get through. 

Our flight departs from Terminal 4S, which is on a different section of the terminal where I have checked in. I had to get a train ride and go through passport control before being able to get into the actual terminal of 4S. Even though this is a European flight, this aircraft was coming from Santiago, Chile which stops at the international terminal before continuing onwards to Frankfurt.

Iberia Lounge:

The Iberia lounge in Madrid Terminal 4S is massive, easily fit 200 to 300 passengers comfortably. There are food counters set up on 2 ends of the lounge, mostly sandwiches and poke? A bar is also available at the very end of the lounge (one side only), as I was sitting on the other side of the lounge, I had to walk to the other side to get to the bar. It is a self service bar with a few choices of wine and hard liquor. Apart from alcoholic drinks, right next to the food bar is a minibar with several choices of beverages including coke, sprite, water and along with the food bar, there are pineapple juice and orange juice. 

This is not the most loaded lounge I have ever been into, but it is very good compared to a lot of other lounges I have been into. Since Iberia is a Spanish airline, it would make sense that they have the best lounge here. Since LATAM and Iberia both code share, they are both sharing the same lounge. This is a benefit for travellers on LATAM as lounges outside of home base are usually not as good unless the airline open their own Business lounge. 

SEATING & CREW:

Exactly at 1415, the information board shows that the boarding has commenced. It was more than 5 minutes walk to get to the gate as it was at the far end of the terminal. By the time I got there, economy passengers have started boarding so I had to use the economy bridge as they have closed off the front premium boarding bridge. Stepping on board, the crew were very professional and friendly. As I settled into my seat, the Business Class crew came over to offer me Champaign or water, along with a plate of nuts and introduced herself.

The departure time was 1500 so we had about 15 more minutes, so it was very relaxing and no rush for most of the crew or passengers. Our pushback time was 1507 and flight time of 2 hours and 7 minutes. We departed on runway 36 with a great parallel takeoff with an Aero Mexico aircraft. Shortly after takeoff, the crew start the meal preparation. There was only 1 meal option on this leg, while we have 2 dessert options (chocolate mousse or strawberry cheesecake?). The food was decent, although I am not too big of a fan of whatever was inside the sandwich, it was some sort of cold meat, maybe ham? The crew also have a list with the names of each of the passenger so they can address each passenger by their name.

1 hour after takeoff, we have completed our meal and it was time to chill. The seat configuration is 2-2-2, a total of 30 Business Class seats. This configuration is definitely not as private compared to other airlines that are offering a 1-2-1 configuration. The seat is a recliner (not flat bed) which is another downside of the hard product, while fine for a short hop it is not ideal for long haul flight. The monitor is rather far away which can be difficult for some people to see what is written, although it is a touch screen, it doesn't make sense having to take off the seat belt to reach the screen.

There is sort of a privacy divider between the seats, in the form of an armrest that can be erected which means you don't see your seat neighbour when you are both in reclining mode. The reclining function is slightly weird and doesn't make too much sense at times. There were times where I wanted to put my back slightly more upright but it has to put the leg rest half way down before it can start getting back up.

There is a personal air vent, reading light, USB port and universal power outlet on each seat. The table is situated right on the centre armrest which can be slightly difficult to pull up and the adjustment only goes towards you instead of away from you which means you can't get out with the table out.

The crew handed out pillow and blanket shortly after takeoff as well, the pillow is very soft and comfortable, which would make it a comfortable sleep if the flight was longer.

CONCLUSION:

Before landing, the crew came to thank each passenger personally. The crew are professional and they deliver great service throughout. I am very impressed with the crew onboard this flight, but slightly disappointed with the hard product as it is no longer an industry standard with their configuration. Business class is now leaning more towards a former First class standard, and airlines are reinventing First Class as Business Class products are already on track to be on par.

The food can probably be improved but I have no major issue with what has been served.

HOW TO GET A GOOD BUSINESS CLASS DEAL?

Now to the important part, how did I managed to pay NZ$115.50 instead of NZ$164, well the key is to book early. I booked this flight 6 months ahead which gives me the advantage of waiting for the price to drop, however the key to tracking flight prices is Google Travel. You may or may not know, Google used to call it Google Flight but have recently rebranded it to Google Travel. You can find flights and hotels through this website, along with any itinerary you may have on your Google mail, which will automatically be added and show you very detailed information regarding your upcoming flight(s).

Any flights you may be interested in, you can simply enter the destination, and the price will show up right under each date, along with highlighted pricing to focus on the best possible price over the 2 months period. It is very easy to navigate and search for any flight, customization is also available such as class, number of passengers and whether you are booking a one way trip, return trip or multi-leg trip. Do note that multi-leg do not have prices shown and they are also usually rather inaccurate from the website I get redirected to book. Most flights are pretty accurate, sometimes the price does not match and they can either be slightly cheaper or more expensive. It is definitely not 100% accurate but it has very good tools to give an indication of how much the flight usually costs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Zy8RbIC6nc